The Captain and the Assistant

Chapter 10: The Wagon

You arrive late that night. You awake to the cart lurching to a stop near the entrance of a building. Your head is still resting on Levi's shoulder and your cheeks instantly become hot. How long had you been out like this? Then you instantly feel conflicted. Levi let you stay like that the entire time? You had to be dreaming.

Sitting up, you stretch your arms and Levi looks to you, "So you aren't dead," he says standing from the seat.

"Thanks for not waking me up," you say, massaging your sore neck. Levi doesn't respond. The others clamber off and hurry into the castle. You're within wall Rose now, you have to be on guard, a titan could appear at any moment. To think of all the scouts hard work going to shit.

You all gather around and the others are continuing to grill pastor Nick for more answers. He finally gives in and explains that they have been keeping a close eye on a girl named Historia, who apparently is apart of the Reis family. He mentions something about her having royal blood, but you're not sure why any of this could mean.

A while later, everyone heads off to bed as you know you will have an eventful day as soon as the sun starts to rise in the morning.

You head to your quarters, and lay down on an uncomfortable cot. You stare up at the ceiling, wide awake and your mind racing. You think about the Titans, you think about the walls, you think about Historia, and you think about Levi. Who let you sleep on his shoulder in front of his comrades. Who let you mark him even though he knew others would see. You feel giddy and light. Who knew you'd would feel this way about LEVI. You know this is more than just lust at this point. You try to patch memories of Levi together to see if he feels the same for you. More than lust. Most times you spent together were either work related, or turned sexual. All except the trip here and the kiss in Erwins office. He let you sleep on his shoulder. But, wouldn't any good comrade have done that.

You throw the thin blanket off and sit up, there's no way you're getting any sleep tonight. You decide to go for a walk, you throw on your slippers and your scout cloak and you head for the door.

You don't exactly know where you're going, but you head for the door to the outside. It's so quiet. You step out and quietly close the door behind you. You stare up at the stars and think back to when you were younger. Nights out by the fire with your dad. Before the wall was attacked. Before you joined the scouts after his passing. Before everything went to shit.

You close your eyes and take a breath of the crisp night air when you hear a voice coming from the wagon, "Can't sleep?"

It's Levi. He's laying in the wagon, staring up at the stars. He doesn't move when you approach and take a seat next to him. "You shouldn't be out here," he says unmoving. You feel nervous. After all of this overthinking, you know how you feel. You've got a massive, embarrassing crush on humanities strongest. Fuck what are you doing. You gain the courage to answer.

"And neither should you," you say, laying down next to him on your back.

You both sit in silence for a while, staring up at the stars. Your body is practically buzzing you're so nervous. You feel the need to break the silence.

"This reminds me of before," you say, your voice almost a whisper.

There's a pause. You hope you're not bothering him. "Before the shit storm began?" Levi asks curiously.

You're pleased he responded, "Yeah. My dad and I used to have fires most nights in the summer. Some nights he'd even let me stay out late. We'd watch the stars and just talk." It feels good to talk about your dad. You hadn't talked to anyone about him ever since that day.

"He loved to tell me stories about my mom before she passed because I couldn't remember her. Nights like those it was like I could feel that she was with us."